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Mexican dates confirmed
The Mexican tour dates in February have been confirmed by Purple management. The Zapopan show has been moved from February 22 to the 27th to accomodate a second Mexico City date due to the first one being apparently already sold out (at a 10,000 capacity arena, no less). Tickets for the new date are expected to go on sale soon, check your local outlets. Full details in our calendar.
Thanks to George Kikonishvili and deep-purple.com for the info.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
Looks promising for a US Tour finally. If the Mexicans get one, we are sure to be next. Just across the border. We can’t keep the Illegals out. Surely Purple can make it through on a Work Visa…..’One Man’s Meat’…..
Cheers
January 23rd, 2011 at 01:59Hope they brought Patsy and Big Jim for Security.
January 23rd, 2011 at 11:29And Argentina?
:$
January 23rd, 2011 at 18:04Kudos to the Mexicans for their support of Deep Purple. Latin America in general has been very kind to the Purple Family, whether it be Glenn Hughes or Joe Lynn Turner or Purple itself.
At 20.5 million people, Mexico,D.F. fluctuates between the second and third largest city in the world and thus is a pretty safe bet for selling out an arena or two. More challenging is smaller cities, particularly those in the United States.
The midwest is home to the annual Rockfest–a festival that attracts 40,000 fans to watch various bands each spring. Certainly Purple should attract enough of an audience to fill one of the many small venues. With the resources of the internet, publicity should be relatively easy and cheap.
It has been suggested that the fans rally to attract Purple to their particular city. This is a ridiculous proposition in that this is management’s job! The fact of the matter is that Deep Purple’s organization cares little about touring the United States. They have toured consistently before and suddenly lost interest. I see very little difference between playing a small venue in Germany or France or even some far off exotic corner of the world and doing the same in the US. Like Melville’s character Bartleby the Scrivener, they “choose not to.”
I see no American tour without a new product or co-headliner, neither do I see an album in 2011. Next year in January in much more likely, if at all, in my opinion (but I hope I am very, very wrong).
That means a tour and album in 2012. No wonder Purple is touring Mexico–just before Quetzalcoatl’s return and the end of the world! I just hope Purple comes to the midwest before The Return of the Feathered Serpent (now there’s an album title) 😉 .
January 23rd, 2011 at 19:11Haha.. great title!
I haven’t seen any reviews of the Gillan Classics Orchestra thing…Didn’t seem to catch much interest amongst fans here. I saw a few clips on youtube though and much to my surprise they’ve actually dropped the key on Perfect Strangers… I’ve been on about his before, I think Purple should do this with more tracks to save his voice. HE sounds amazing on PS on the few clips I’ve seen.
I for one won’t buy another ticket to a Deep Purple show (my absolute favorite band in the world only rivaled by early Rainbow), seen many..I think 3-4 on the “rapture” tour alone, unless something new is presented.
January 23rd, 2011 at 21:35@4 I like your knowledge of Aztec traditions and history.. The reason dP don’t tour the US is the lack of interest from you guys.
January 23rd, 2011 at 22:04T @4:
> It has been suggested that the fans rally to attract Purple to their particular city. This is a ridiculous proposition in that this is management’s job!
no, it’s not the management’s job. it’s the promoter’s job.
> The fact of the matter is that Deep Purple’s organization cares little about touring the United States. They have toured consistently before and suddenly lost interest. I see very little difference between playing a small venue in Germany or France or even some far off exotic corner of the world and doing the same in the US. Like Melville’s character Bartleby the Scrivener, they “choose not to.”
you don’t know that and i don’t know that. but my (poorly educated) guess would be that the promoters in germany or france or exotic corners of the world do not impose ridiculous conditions like performing machine head in it’s entirety or
playing second fiddleco-headlining with lynyrd skynyrd.i don’t think they’ve “suddenly” lost interest. what i see is that they were fighting an uphill battle on this continent for a long, long time. perhaps they got tired? after all, the grass is greener elsewhere, and mexican fans’ money is just as good as yours or mine.
January 24th, 2011 at 02:26Re: #5
I base my conclusions on past behavior.
Whether one is marketing a product or a band, the name of the game is getting the word out. The US is a lucrative, untapped market with the potential to put Deep Purple back in the forefront.
It is frustrating to see this great band take the “easy route” to perform only in places where all they have to do is show up. It has hurt their sales and it has hurt their reputation and even the hard-core long-time fans are starting to make noises about it. How many times can a band expect the same people to show up at the same city every few months with nothing new to offer?
There is nothing wrong with touring with another band–if that’s what it takes to crack the market. The DP organization–management, promoters, what have you–has little interest in making the effort. The setlist is already practically a greatest hits list anyway.
The bootleg I have from the Machine Head tour–admittedly *Canadian*–worked well, with half the show being Machine Head and the other half songs from across the catalogue. It makes little difference if Machine Head songs are in their running order or scattered throughout the setlist; the end result is the same. It is not unusual for a band to tailor their setlist to a particular market. Why should the US be any different?
“….mexican fans’ money is just as good as yours or mine.” True. And Machine Head songs are just as good as any others’ as well. It all just depends on how badly Purple wants to make a dent.
As an aside, the last two times Purple came here it was NOT a Machine Head tour. The setlist was basically the same as everywhere else, and the venue was packed.
The band must take advantage of publicity opportunities. A few years ago, I was a part of an event to break the world’s record for the largest guitar ensemble with “Smoke on the Water” as the chosen song. This event was announced months in advance. On the day of the event, nearly a thousand guitarists showed up–not to mention the thousands watching. Deep Purple should have taken advantage of this great publicity opportunity. Instead–not a word. Opportunity wasted.
The best marketing by any of the Purple family at the moment is Glenn Hughes solo or with Black Country Communion–a brand new band. By taking advantage of the potential fan base and constant bombardment using the internet, he got the word out even in this market’s relative hostility to “classic” style rock music. Glenn’s constant “tour” videos and tweets keep everyone up-to-date and his tour in their minds–and not just in Britain, but all over the world. This also go out the word for BCC. These efforts keep the fans interested and wanting more, and makes the difference between on-the-feet cheering–or polite, respectful applause. But it takes *effort*. Most battles are uphill.
If Gillan can tour the US as a solo act, it should not be difficult for Deep Purple to follow suit.
January 24th, 2011 at 03:22Purple playing in South America and not North America should come as no surprise. They regularly pass up the states while doing numerous venues in Latin America. My guess is they have no taste for our materialistic, arrogant, musically ignorant culture.
January 24th, 2011 at 05:45Very good , thought they might have got sick of it , & gone their seperate ways by now! Steve ‘s been a livesaver to the band , who would have thought he would still be playing in 2011. This line up been going a while , looks like it will continue on. There still playing some great music. A few more of the concerts need to be recorded .
January 24th, 2011 at 12:43@7 I would love to see DP in the USA playing second fiddle to Lynard, A-Smith, Stones etc….then they will attract new fans and regain old ones. Not to mention show off their musicianship to the “Headliners”
January 24th, 2011 at 14:29@ buck….I think it’s down to ticket sales. They can sell out 20,000 seats in two nights in Mexico or play four nights in the states or Canada for the same money. Comes down to that i think.
January 24th, 2011 at 16:14GREAT, the second show seems to be already almost sold-out. http://www.ticketmaster.com.mx/event/14004566A37073C8?artistid=734897&majorcatid=10001&minorcatid=826
only 1500 tickets remains free (out of 10,000)
20,000 tickets sold for Mexico City show. Why not held a concert at some 20,000 capacity stadium?
January 24th, 2011 at 20:00Maybe returning to Mexico might inspire them?
After all, wasnt it Mexico where the first gigs with Steve became the prelude to Purpendicular?
January 24th, 2011 at 21:54And after(guess what),Brazil!!!
January 25th, 2011 at 01:16Good point Priest…
I had to honor of seeing one of those 4 early shows they did. One was at the Sunrise Musical Theater in Florida. I was surprised to hear the advert on the radio just weeks before the show. I was blown away. They really did play great that night. Had front row seats. Hopefully as you state, they will grab some of that inspiration and shoot it into their next recording….”Purpendiculater”
Cheers
January 25th, 2011 at 15:39and brazil, come here.
January 25th, 2011 at 21:16I’ve made the journey to see them in Mexico City, one of my many Purple travels. In doing so I noticed one hell of a lot of ‘ignorance’ there as well as in the US, which was fairly mentioned above somehwere. First of all the promoters hadn’t a clue that it was a special event that did not include a full rock concert performance by neither Purple or Dio.(even though I purchased a lovely poster that clearly stated the proceedings as they were) I have never been in such a riot in my life, I feared for my safety, in fact I have feared for my safety every time I’ve been to Mexico for one reason or another, but this time I was in the middle of a war scene until Mr. Lord somehow managed to calm the riot down. He also expressed anger for what he witnessed. I seriously almost got trampled. They freaked out when Ronnie left the stage, the place erupted like thunder, the punters were so loud in protest that they had been scammed and wanted their money back. I’ve never seen anything like it, anywhere. It wasn’t advertised correctly at all, and I suspect the promoters didn’t want to risk losing ticket sales so they blatenly called it DP w/special guest Dio.
In 2007 Purple told reliable sources in the sounthern US region that they didn’t care if it were their last time touring the US, and couldn’t care to see themselves doing it again. Such words were expressed to me from the source who was treated well at the shows they attended. There was likely details concerning what was said and as far as I know, it’s all the promoting idustry’s fault. I can see why it would cause a lack of adventure in the set lists while their research departments go off demographics to the point of insisting they play ‘KAYBD’ when they obviously don’t put much stock in such a number these days. People can blame the band members all they want, but let’s not forget there is a side to it that runs the show beyond Purple’s say. This side exists for every artist, some have managed to manipulate it with success, and some don’t bother because they’re happy just to have a gig after all these years and find it a small compromise to continue existing for what they live to do. This argument has always baffled me to say the least… it is what it is, and it’s simply out of their control. And if a country doesn’t embrace them, oh well, perhaps those complaining should put a gun to the promoters and the media’s heads a like. Talk about naive, since when has Purple’s business been smooth? My advice, although I’m here and they’re approaching the twilight zone… stay away from any and all territories that do not roll out the red carpet for you. Do not solicite, respond to demand only.(something tells me they’re considering this, even if another US tour happens) It’s become like work, like punching a time clock, and that can be refected in the overall touring and recording balance, see it for what it really is.
January 26th, 2011 at 22:32@ 16
Btw, am I the only one that liked the title track?
January 27th, 2011 at 00:14Nope, Mark, you’re not the only one. 🙂
January 27th, 2011 at 10:16I was a volunteer for Animal Protection Service once around 1996.
The only good thing I seem to recall is that we played a tape of mine in the van and hearing Rosa S cantina really made my day.
A bit too heavy for me, scraping dead animals off the highway, dragging rotten fish out of canals, endorsing people with their all time friend the dog to his last station : (
Another strange and annoying phenomena was that the place where the volunteers were stationed was filled with smoke.
Everyone there smoked their asses off and I truly loath that.
It was also the time they were planning a new building in the shape of a big dog!!!!
This catlover took a hike!
January 29th, 2011 at 10:42I’m really afraid about february performances in Mexico. No one remember that for egzample Ian Paice delated 26-th january show due to deasease / ill problems ? Ian Gillan on record from 23 January from Berlin unfortunately looks very tired…
I’m not afraid about Morse,Glover or Airey – They as always will do their best.
February 4th, 2011 at 10:22Relax. The Italians said the reason IP cancelled was nothing serious. I believe the show is already rescheduled. And maybe IG was tired that night in Berlin? These are humans just like us, they get small health problems (cold, back pains, whatever) and are tired some nights, just like you and me. Doesn’t mean we are close to dying or close to giving up working any time soon.
My God, a guy at work was home with a stomach flu the other day! Maybe he’ll never come back to work again?! 😉
February 4th, 2011 at 15:50The news about Mexico ticket sales:
1st shows (22nd February): 3605 tickets (out of 10,000) sold
2nd show (23d February): 8770 tickets (out of 10,000) sold.
They have to sell 7625 tickets in the remaining 10 days, in order to sell out both shows.
February 11th, 2011 at 18:437068
February 15th, 2011 at 01:497068 tickets remaining for both shows combined
February 15th, 2011 at 01:496085
February 19th, 2011 at 01:50